Census study a transportation snapshot of Hampton Roads

A new study based on information from the 2010 census provides a snapshot of transportation habits in the region, and the rare data will be especially helpful for local planners.

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization has released a draft of its Census Transportation Data report, which tracks average travel time, number of household cars and whether workers commute by transit, carpool or alone.

"I think the aim of it is to look at performance measures to see how the system is operating as far as travel time goes. The idea is to see how are things now and how have they changed over time," said Rob Case, an engineer at HRTPO. "This data is hard to get to — particularly the older stuff."

Among the interesting findings in the study: Only 2 percent of workers in Hampton Roads get to work by public transit. That's less than the amount of people who get to work by foot, which was 3 percent of residents. The study says 9 percent of residents got to work by carpooling, and the overwhelming majority — 81 percent — commuted by themselves in a vehicle to their job.

The trend toward driving alone is reflected in the area's localities. For example, in 1980 nearly 24 percent of Hampton commuters carpooled to work, compared to 7 percent in 2010.

In Gloucester County, over the past 40 years the average commute time has only increased by seven minutes. In 1970 the average commute took 26 minutes, compared to 33 minutes in 2010, despite the population growing from 14,000 residents to 36,000 in the same time period.

In 1970, almost 20 percent of Gloucester County households did not have a vehicle, compared to just 3 percent there now.

Read the report

HRTPO is inviting the public to read the census transportation data and send their comments in by Monday. To review the plan visit http://www.hrtpo.org and click on "Analysis of U.S. Census Transportation Data." Comments can be sent to Robert Case at rcase@hrtpo.org or by mail to 723 Woodlake Drive, Chesapeake, Virginia 2332.